Four years after a migrant’s death in Kerala, families in Odisha still bear the burden
The family of a migrant worker who died in a workplace accident in Kerala four years ago remains in poverty and is still awaiting compensation. The victim's teenage son has been forced to drop out of school to support his mother and siblings through manual labor.
Why it matters
It highlights the systemic vulnerabilities and lack of social safety nets for migrant laborers in India, particularly regarding workplace safety and legal recourse.
At 16, Radura Naik looks aged way beyond his years. Ever since his father, Susanta Kumar Naik, 38, was crushed to death at a worksite in Maradu, Kerala, nearly four years ago, fate has dealt Radura — then on the cusp of adolescence — a cruel bargain.
When the family was forced to leave their home in Ekalpur village in Odisha’s Kendrapara district and move to Bhubaneswar to survive after losing its sole breadwinner, Radura had to drop out of school after Class VIII and take up a physically demanding full-time job at a two-wheeler garage.
Muskan, meaning smile, reads the name of the garage along Cuttack Road. But smile is what seems to have deserted Radura’s life for good.
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